Gurugram: Hero Honda Chowk flyover stretch damaged again

The Hero Honda Chowk flyover on the busy Delhi Gurugram Expressway has once again damaged a stretch of bridge, forcing the highway authority to barricade one of the lanes from Jaipur to Delhi side late Saturday morning, officials said on Sunday.

A portion of the bridge on the extreme right lane from Jaipur to Delhi side lost plaster and concrete late on Friday evening, leaving the iron bars exposed and the road underneath the flyover becoming visible due to a three by 2 feet hole. However, it was “immediately barricaded” after being alerted about it, said highway authority officials.

The traffic movement has also been stopped on the right lane, they added.

A senior National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official, said that to prevent any untoward incidents, they barricaded the lane and the damaged portion. “NHAI is in process of engaging a specialist agency to conduct structural audit of flyover,” said the official aware of the development, adding that the agency will be hired soon.

To be sure, this is the fourth occasion that the flyover has been damaged on the same stretch since becoming operational in 2017.

In the first week of May 2024, the flyover had developed a depression and a small portion of the road had lost plaster and concrete, leaving its iron bars exposed.

Last May, when the same stretch of the flyover was damaged, NHAI officials had said that the flyover had a history of getting damaged in the specific stretch and they were taking corrective measures. They also said that the firm that constructed the project had also been dissolved.

Ramesh Kumar, a local activist on whose complaint the Gururgam police had registered a first information report against shoddy construction, said: “This flyover needs to be dismantled and constructed again as due to poor quality construction, it has damaged many times.”

The construction of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover commenced in November 2014. The Delhi-Jaipur carriageway first opened in March 2017, while the rest of the flyover opened to traffic months later. It was constructed at a cost of ₹200 crore.

Since 2017, the flyover has suffered major damages thrice in the past due to which the structure had to be shut for traffic for repairs.

On April 23, 2018, the carriageway of Hero Honda flyover from Jaipur to Delhi side suffered damage after a large chunk of concrete came off the bridge, leaving a 15 cm-deep and 250 sq cm-wide hole.

The same carriageway was also damaged on May 8, 2019 after chunks of concrete fell from the bridge, developing a hole on the road. NHAI formed a technical committee that recommended remedial measures in 2020 following which the road was closed and repaired.